Perugia

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Comune di Perugia
Municipal coat of arms
Country	Italy
Region	Umbria
Province	Perugia (PG)
Mayor	Renato Locchi (since June 13, 2004)
Elevation	493 m
Area	449 km²
Population
- Total (as of December 31, 2004)	157,842
- Density	352/km²
Time zone	CET, UTC+1
Coordinates	43°07′N 12°23′E
Gentilic	Perugini
Dialing code	075
Postal code	06100
Frazioni	see list
Patron	St. Constantius, St. Herculanus
- Day	January 29
Website: www.comune.perugia.it

Perugia is the capital city in the region of Umbria in central Italy, near the Tiber river, and the capital of the province of Perugia.

Perugia is an important artistic center of Italy. The town gave his nickname to the famous painter Pietro Vannucci, called Perugino, who worked in Perugia, Rome and Florence. Perugino is said to be the Maestro of Raffaello, who left in Perugia five paintings (today no longer in the city) and one fresco. Another famous painter, Pinturicchio, lived in Perugia. In Galeazzo Alessi Perugia found its most famous architect.

Contents 1 History 2 Perugia today 3 Main sights 3.1 Main attractions 3.2 Other attractions 4 Gallery 5 Local events 6 Twinned towns 7 See also 8 Notes 9 External links 10 References

[edit] History

Perugia first appears in history as Perusia, one of the twelve confederate cities of Etruria. It is first mentioned in the account of the war of 310 or 309 BCE between the Etruscans and the Romans. It took, however, an important part in the rebellion of 295, and was reduced, with Vulsinii and Arretium (Arezzo), to seek for peace in the following year.

In 216 and 205 BCE it assisted Rome in the Second Punic War but afterwards it is not mentioned until 41-40 BCE, when Lucius Antonius took refuge there, and was reduced by Octavian after a long siege, and its senators sent to their death. A number of lead bullets used by slingers have been found in and around the city (Corpus Inscr. Lat. xi. 1212). The city was burnt, we are told, with the exception of the temples of Vulcan and Juno— the massive Etruscan terrace-walls, naturally, can hardly have suffered at all— and the town, with the territory for a mile round, was allowed to be occupied by whoever chose. It must have been rebuilt almost at once, for several bases exist, inscribed Augusta sacr(um) Perusia restituta; but it did not become a colonia until 251-253 CE.

It is hardly mentioned except by the geographers until it was captured and laid waste in 547 by Totila, after a long siege. Totila is said to have ordered the city's bishop, Herculanus of Perugia, to be flayed and killed. St. Herculanus (Sant' Ercolano) later became the city's patron saint.

In the Lombard period it is spoken of as one of the principal cities of Tuscia. In the ninth century, with the consent of Charles the Great and Louis the Pious, it passed under the popes; but by the eleventh century its commune was asserting itself, and for many centuries the city continued to maintain an independent life, warring against many of the neighbouring lands and cities— Foligno, Assisi, Spoleto, Todi, Siena, Arezzo, etc. In the struggles between Guelphs and Ghibellines, it remained loyal for the most part to the Guelph party.

On various occasions the popes found asylum from the tumults of Rome within its walls, and it was the meeting-place of fives conclaves, including those which elected Honorius II (1124), Honorius IV (1285), Celestine V (1294), and Clement V (1305). But Perugia had no mind simply to subserve the papal interests and never accepted papal sovreignty. At the time of Rienzi's unfortunate enterprise in reviving the Roman republic, Perugia sent ten ambassadors to pay him honour; and, when papal legates sought to coerce it by foreign soldiers, or to exact contributions, they met with vigorous resistance, which broke into open warfare with Pope Urban V in 1369; Perugia was forced to accept a papal legate. The abbot of Cluny Monmaggiore was expelled by a popular uprising in 1375, and his fortification of Porta Sole was destroyed.

Civic peace was constantly disturbed in the fourteenth century by struggles between the party representing the people (Raspanti) and the nobles (Beccherini). After the assassination of Biordo Michelotti (1398), Perugia became a pawn in the Italian Wars, passing to Gian Galeazzo Visconti (1400), the Pope (1403), to Ladislas of Naples (1408-14) before it settled into a period of sound governance under the Signoria of the condottiero Braccio da Montone (1416-24). Following mutual atrocities of the Oddi and the Baglioni families, power was at last concentrated in the Baglioni, who, though they had no legal position, defied all other authority, though their bloody internal squabbles culminated in a massacre, 14 July 1500. Gian Paolo Baglioni was lured to Rome in 1520 and beheaded by Leo X; and in 1540 Rodolfo, who had slain a papal legate, was defeated by Pier Luigi Farnese, and the city, captured and plundered by his soldiery, was deprived of its privileges. A citadel known as the Rocca Paolina, after the name of Pope Paul III, was built, to designs of Antonio da Sangallo the Younger "ad coercendam Perusinorum audaciam."^[1]

In 1797, the city was conquered by French troops. On 4 February 1798, the Tiberina Republic was formed, with Perugia as capital, and the French tricolour as flag. In 1799, the Tiberina Republic merged to the Roman Republic.

In 1832, 1838, 1854 and 1997 Perugia was visited by earthquakes; Following the collapse of the Roman republic of 1848-49, when the Rocca was in part demolished, in May 1849 it was seized by the Austrians. After another futile insurrection in the June of 1859, which was bloodily defeated by Pius IX's troops, it was finally united, along with the rest of Umbria, to Piedmont, in 1860.

[edit] Perugia today

Perugia has become famous for chocolate, mostly because of a single firm, Perugina, whose Baci (kisses) are widely exported. Perugia chocolate is very popular in Italy, and the city hosts a chocolate festival in October of every year.

Perugia today hosts two main universities, the Università degli Studi and the Foreigners University (Università per Stranieri), and are melting pots for students from all over Italy and the world. Stranieri serves as an Italian language and culture school for students from all over the world. The city also hosts the Umbra Institute, an American school for students studying abroad in Perugia. The Università dei Sapori(University of Tastes), Accademia delle belle arti (Art Academy), and Scuola di giornalismo radio televisivo (a radio-television journalism school owned by RAI) are located in the city as well.

The city symbol is the griffin, which can be seen in the form of plaques and statues on buildings around the city.

[edit] Main sights

[edit] Main attractions

• The Cathedral of S. Lorenzo.
• Palazzo dei Priori (Town Hall, encompassing the Collegio del Cambio, Collegio della Mercanzia, and Galleria Nazionale). The Collegio del Cambio has frescoes by Pietro Perugino, while the Collegio della Mercanzia has a fine later 14th century wooden interior.
• Church and abbey of San Pietro (late 16th century).
• Basilica of San Domenico (begun in 1394 and finished in 1458). It is located in the place where, in Middle Ages times, the market and the horse fair were held, and where the Dominicans settled in 1234. According to Vasari, the church was designed by Giovanni Pisano. The interior decorations were redesigned by Carlo Maderno, while the massive belfry was partially cut around mid-16th century. It houses examples of Umbrian art, including the precious tomb of Pope Benedict XI and a Renaissance wooden choir.
• Church of Sant'Angelo (6th century).
• Church of San Bernardino (with façade by Agostino di Duccio).
• Fontana Maggiore, a medieval fountain designed by Fra Bevignate and sculpted by Nicolò and Giovanni Pisano.
• Church of San Severo, here's retained a fresco painted by Raffaello and Perugino.
• Galleria Nazionale dell'Umbria, the National Gallery of Umbrian art in Middle Ages and Renaissance (it includes works by Duccio, Piero della Francesca, Beato Angelico, Perugino)
• Ipogeo dei Volumni (Hypogeum of the Volumnus family), an Etruscan chamber tomb
• National Museum of Umbrian Archaeology.
• Palazzo del Capitano del Popolo.
• Porta Augusta, a Roman gate with Etruscan elements.
• the Rocca Paolina, a Renaissance fortress (1540-1543) of which only a bastion today is remaining. The original design was by Antonio and Aristotile da Sangallo, and included the Porta Marzia (3rd century BC), the tower of Gentile Baglioni's house and a mediaeval pit.
• The Etruscan arch.
• The Directional Centre, by Aldo Rossi the famous architect

[edit] Other attractions

• The Etruscan Well (Pozzo Etrusco).
• Medieval aqueduct.
• The Tribunali.
• Piazza Matteotti
• Teatro Comunale Morlacchi.
• Church of Sant' Agata.
• Church of Sant' Ercolano (early 14th century). Currently resempling a polygonal tower, it had once two floors. The upper one was demolished when the Rocca Paolina was built. It includes Baroque decorations commissioned from 1607. The main altar is made by a 4th sarcophagus found in 1609.
• Church of Sant'Antonio da Padova.
• Church of San Francesco al Prato.
• Church of Santa Giuliana, heir of a female monastery founded in 1253, which in its later years gained a fame of dissoluteness, until the French turned it into a granary. It is now a military hospital. The church, with a single nave, has traces of the ancient frescoes, which probably covered all the walls (13th century). The cloister is a noteworthy example of Cistercense architecture of the mid-14th century, attributed to Matteo Gattapone. This is contemporary to the upper part of the belfry, whose base is from the 13th century.
• Church of San Michele Arcangelo (5th-6th centuries). It is an example of Palaeo-Christian art with central plant recalling that of Santo Stefano Rotondo in Rome. It has 16 antique columns.
• Church of San Matteo in Campo Orto.
• Church of Santi Stefano e Valentino
• Templar church of San Bevignate.

[edit] Gallery

Corso Vannucci

Palazzo dei Priori

Palazzo del Capitano del Popolo

Directional centre

[edit] Local events

• Umbria Jazz
• EuroChocolate

[edit] Twinned towns

• Aix-en-Provence, France
• Bratislava, Slovakia
• Grand Rapids, Michigan, USA
• Potsdam, Germany
• Seattle, Washington, USA
• Tübingen, Germany

[edit] See also

• People from Perugia
• A.C. Perugia - local football club
• 2006 Perugia olive oil factory explosions

[edit] Notes

[edit] External links

Find more information on Perugia by searching Wikipedia's sister projects
	Dictionary definitions from Wiktionary
	Textbooks from Wikibooks
	Quotations from Wikiquote
	Source texts from Wikisource
	Images and media from Commons
	News stories from Wikinews
	Learning resources from Wikiversity

• Perugia travel guide from Wikitravel
• Official Site
• MiniMetro (Italian)

[edit] References

• This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.
• Touring Club Italiano, Guida d'Italia: Umbria (1966)